Beijing is a typical traditional city in China, originating from the uniform and conventional grid plan, but transformed diversely, either on purpose or spontaneously. This research took the diversification process of grid blocks as an angle to understand the transformation process of Beijing’s urban morphology. It took 194 grid blocks within the 3rd Ring Road of Beijing as research objects. First, the paper proposed a whole view of Beijing’s grid blocks by 1) visualizing their construction process, 2) classifying 5 morphological clusters by 7 indicators (Block size, Block shape regularity, Intensity, Coverage, Network density, Plot shape regularity, Standard deviation of plot size), and 3) investigating their distribution. Second, the diversification process of grid blocks was clarified from two layers: the block-boundary layer and the inner-space layer. Finally, the mechanism of block form diversification was clarified by exploring the connections between elements in each layer, and the influence of urban development on block form transformation. The study re-defined the diversification process in a more quantitative way from both time and spatial dimension. It concluded that the diversification is influenced by changes in urban planning principles and locations, and emerged thorough the long-term transformation and resubdivision. The interaction between the boundary and the inner space stimulates the diversification. And based on these, it concluded with a discussion of limitations and potentials on grid blocks’ construction and renovation.
The growth of 3D construction printing needs appropriate integration into the planning and execution phases of building projects. With this aim, the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction sector (AEC) has been increasingly adopting building information modeling (BIM) systems to synchronize design and construction processes. This study proposes a technical workflow to manage 3D construction printing into BIM models, evaluating various procedures according to construction element features. Based on mature software platforms, the research details the data transfer process using a case study of a single-story home. The case delves into design procedures for constructing walls of varied shapes, adjustments in width, joints, openings, textures, fillings, and the insertion of reinforcements and services while also discussing requirements of other building elements. Work steps for managing design information and controlling printing machines are described. The study’s outcome presents a comprehensive information flow, encompassing model segmentation, geometric data transfer, adjustments of details, and the generation of printing paths. Then, it is offered a discussion that underlines the importance of a synergistic digital information flow that merges both design and execution phases, promoting construction efficiency and the embrace of innovative technologies. The contribution of the paper focuses on technical design strategies for 3D construction printing, but also on suggesting an integrated process.
Traditional Jiangnan garden architecture in China offers distinct spatial impressions that hold significance in contemporary architectural expression. Yet, the understanding and analysis of these spaces have historically relied on subjective, sensory experiences, often lacking precise, quantitative research. Consequently, establishing clear logical connections between visual cognition and emotional perception within these spatial experiences has been a challenge. This study introduces virtual reality spatial simulation and quantification techniques, summarizing key Jiangnan garden spatial characteristics and prototypes. It includes a series of virtual reality experiments focusing on cognitive experiences within Jiangnan garden spaces. A comprehensive analysis of isovisit quantitative data, questionnaires, and behavioral information explores the logical relationships between emotional perceptions (calmness, surprise, interest, confusion) and visual cognition qualities (openness, complexity, theatricality) in garden space impressions. This research aims to reveal deeper connections between garden space qualities, visual cognition, and emotional experiences, offering valuable insights for the application of historical traditional spatial features in contemporary architecture. It bridges the gap between sensory experiences and rational analysis, enhancing our understanding of the intricate spatial narratives within Jiangnan gardens.
For the significant energy consumption and environmental impact, it is crucial to identify the carbon emission characteristics of building foundations construction during the design phase. This study would like to establish a process-based carbon evaluating model, by adopting Building Information Modeling (BIM), and calculated the materialization-stage carbon emissions of building foundations without basement space in China, and identifying factors influencing the emissions through correlation analysis. These five factors include the building function type, building structure type, foundation area, foundation treatment method, and foundation depth. Additionally, this study develops several machine learning-based predictive models, including Decision Tree, Random Forest, XGBoost, and Neural Network. Among these models, XGBoost demonstrates a relatively higher degree of accuracy and minimal errors, can achieve the RMSE of 206.62 and R2 of 0.88 based on testing group feedback. The study reveals a substantial variability carbon emissions per building’s floor area of foundations, ranging from 100 to 2000 kgCO2e/m2, demonstrating the potential for optimizing carbon emissions during the design phase of buildings. Besides, materials contribute significantly to total carbon emissions, accounting for 78%-97%, suggesting a significant opportunity for using BIM technology in the design phase to optimize carbon reduction efforts.
The urban development of Tirana during the last few years is characterized by significant expansion, population growth and intensive residential construction. The post-socialist city became much denser, more diverse in terms of building types, taller, and relatively lacking in public space. This study is focused on the evaluation of in-between open public spaces, which are specific for different urban settings. The spatial configuration of in-between spaces is analyzed in relation to the level of social interaction and the presence of economic activities. Six neighborhoods, which belong to socialist and post-socialist tower, slab, and courtyard building typologies, are selected as case studies. Research methodology includes Space Syntax analysis, site surveys, and observations aiming to comprehend the socioeconomic performance and spatial organization of the neighborhoods. The overlap of the activity pattern, human behavior mapping, syntactic measurements, and site survey allows understanding the performance of different types of open spaces and to find the in-between space that facilitates the development of social and economic activities.
Regions near latitude 0° are characterized by warm-humid climate and also by high cloudiness. In these regions, metal roofs has been the most widely used typology. However, in the last decades, the use of heavy concrete roofs has increased significantly. Given its material characteristics, this roof typology offers a higher thermal resistance and thermal mass than a metal roof. Most strategies focus on the use of these characteristics, as well as the use of high reflectivity and emissivity. However, the impact of cloudiness on the effectiveness of these strategies has been little addressed. This research focuses on the impact of reflectivity and emissivity change on the thermal performance of these two roofs in a cloudy warm-humid climate. To achieve this objective, simulations validated with measurements were used. The results show that the efficiency of reflectivity and emissivity is lower in this region compared to other regions. The impact of these properties is further reduced with increasing thermal mass or decreasing thermal transmittance, so the effectiveness of reflectivity and emissivity is minimal on the concrete roof. Finally, this study supports that a metal roof with a reflectivity and emissivity above 0.70 can offer lower daily average temperatures than a concrete roof.
New methods are need to coordinate the conflicting spatial demands through urban design research and strategies from the perspective of multi-scale urban climate analysis. To integrate wind-thermal environment with urban design, we propose three scale levels, namely the district-superblock, superblock-block, and block-building levels, and divide the urban design elements into voids and solids. Thereafter, we establish a multiscale methodological framework in which the urban design contents are clarified by each scale, and the information transmitted between scales is obtained to ensure consistent value propositions and strategic approaches. The microclimate shaping of the urban open space is transformed into guiding strategies and quantitative indicators of the spatial form of the solid space. Information is transmitted between the scales through the wind-thermal indicators of windward side and the morphological indicators of solid space. Subsequently, the methodology was applied to the project in the core area of Suzhou Science and Technology City, and the findings preliminarily verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the methodology. This research influences urban climate studies and urban design practice in three ways: 1) improving understanding of the correlation between scales; 2) facilitating interaction between the two domains; and 3) providing tools for urban design practices.
This study explores the challenges faced by congenitally blind individuals in navigating urban environments. Specifically, this research investigates the factors that contribute to the construction of city mental mapping for individuals who are born blind. Thirty-one congenitally blind individuals from the University of Jordan were asked to define and describe specific elements of the city based on their personal experiences and imagination. Furthermore, participants were guided through two urban paths: familiar and unfamiliar. The participants were asked to complete a survey regarding their experiences during the tour. The collected data was analyzed by using thematic analysis. The results revealed that congenitally blind individuals construct their mental image of the city by using their three senses of touching, hearing, and smelling, as well as their safety and experience. This mental image consists of five key elements: links, reference points, areas, separators, and topography. Despite the small size of the study sample and the specificity of the context, the results of this study will tremendously help planners in designing highly inclusive urban environments. Incorporating characteristics that can be recognized by the blinds will enhance their accessibility of urban spaces, encourage independent mobility, increase the quality of life and social inclusion for them.
Industrialization is a key element for economic growth in both developed and undeveloped countries. Due to globalization, the cause-effect between industrialization, economic growth and urbanization are changing. This study investigates the relationship between economic expansion, urbanization, and industrialization in Kenya using a quantitative methodology. Using World Bank economic indicator parameters, it focuses on understanding the complex interrelationships between these factors. Vector Autoregression (VAR) modeling is used to analyze the relationships between GDP, urbanization, and industrialization between 1990 and 2018. The Granger causality test is used to determine the causal linkages between GDP, urbanization, and industrialization. Results show that urbanization is increasing steadily across Kenya, with a high population in central, western, Rift valley, and coastal regions. The availability of agricultural land influences urbanization, with a significant positive relationship between the three parameters. The Granger causality test shows a unidirectional relationship between GDP, urbanization, and industrialization. A minimum of 20% is considered as the benchmark for urbanization to reduce both GDP and industrialization. Unplanned and rapid urbanization, accompanied by ecologically unfavorable industrialization schemes, threatens Kenya’s biodiversity. The study provides insight into the interconnection between the three pillars of the economy and the statistical models developed are useful in forecasting future trends.
Diverse heritage architecture characterizes Port Said in Egypt, reflecting European and Arab influences. Suez Canal heritage villas comprise 25% of the total listed heritage buildings in the city. Thus, it is important to retrofit them, aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By reviewing the previous literature related to the green retrofitting of heritage buildings, the (3Ts) framework can be considered a holistic framework that covers the latest trends due to its three components: targets, tools, and tasks, which help the success of the process through a holistic vision of supporting building information modeling (BIM) technologies and organizing stakeholders’ involvement. This paper aims to apply the (3Ts) framework to Suez Canal heritage villas in Port Said, Egypt. The applied study is based on how stakeholders perceive their input and decision-making, measuring the climate parameters, proposing several green retrofits, and integrating them into green scenarios. Evaluation of scenarios is conducted by utilizing the Design Builder simulation software. Additionally, the Skelion plugin calculates the photovoltaic system’s (PVs) energy generation. The results indicated that the total energy savings could reach approximately 12%-74% and nearly 10%-73% CO2 emissions reduction without affecting heritage values.
While new buildings continue to emerge in the process of urbanization, historical buildings, as valuable legacies carrying national historical memory, play an important role in the urban landscape. Previous studies have shown that color harmony is a crucial factor in coordinating urban landscapes. However, the evaluation of color harmony in historic areas and buildings lacks effective quantitative standards, often overlooking factors such as complementary color harmony and the compatibility of analogous colors. This study aims to build a new method to evaluate the color harmony of historical buildings through street view technology, semantic segmentation algorithms, quantification of color harmony methods based on image property detection and classification, questionnaire verification, and takes Shanghai’s historical buildings as an example to explore. Our study categorizes six types of color harmony indexes for Shanghai street-facing historic buildings into three levels, with the top tier serving as a benchmark for excellence and the lowest tier highlighting areas in need of urban environmental improvement. This study uniquely considers color compatibility within hue ranges and expanded relationship types like complementary harmony. This approach, applicable to cities globally, offers practical tools for urban planners and conservators in managing and preserving historic areas and buildings.
Bazaars are considered essential components of a society’s economy and significant features in the urban context of cities, which have emerged based on exchanging goods and meeting people’s needs. Since the late Qajar period, amidst the rapid changes resulting from interaction with modernization, the form of Tabriz Grand Bazaar has undergone significant changes. The research aims to explain the contemporary transformations of marketplace form in the leather and shoe sectors. The objectives aim to elucidate the contemporary physical, functional, and sementic changes and propose strategies. The research method is qualitative, with a phenomenological approach. The results indicate that the Bazaar has lost some physical and sementic functions. Despite providing goods, it has failed to meet the public’s demands because of eliminating production workshops by changing the productive function to service-oriented and the size and shape of spaces. The decline of religious activities is also one reason for the diminished sementic dimension. Regarding functional and physical aspects, some proposed solutions include preserving the authenticity of the spaces and utilizing suitable Functions with the dominant architectural style. Regarding sementic characteristics, suggestions include enhancing the sense of identity.
Palladio’s design principles, including proportion and harmony, have often been associated with mathematical definitions of beauty. However, the geometric and semantic properties of his façades have rarely been analysed in a holistic manner. There is little evidence of how mathematical beauty may be embodied in his architecture. This research investigates complexity (fractal dimension or D) and diversity (perplexity or PP) as aesthetic indices, aiming to capture distinct characteristics of Palladian architecture. The D and PP values of 22 Palladian villa façades are measured and analysed, before being compared with those of three Renaissance facades by Sebastiano Serlio. The combination of D and PP captures the geometric and semantic aesthetic qualities of architectural compositions. Importantly, the developed scatter plot of D and PP results supports the identification of four distinct aesthetic types of Palladian façade designs. The novel combination of D and PP measures contributes to a better understanding of one definition of the mathematical beauty of architecture, wherein “the whole is other than the sum of the parts” in compositional terms (a famous Gestalt principle). Specifically, this research provides new mathematical insights into the visual character of Palladian architecture and compares two important measures thereof.
This study aims to contribute to the understanding of the evolution of art and construction in the early settlements established by Turkish communities on the far west Asian coast by focusing on two developed examples in Urla Peninsula. Conventional surveying and evaluation techniques of architectural restoration and civil engineering were utilized. Key findings include the understanding of the hierarchy of rural settlements in the studied landscape: old Çesme the most developed village of peninsula in the 16th century. It was positioned along a valley in distance to coast, but in control of harbor that played significant role in commerce between Europe and Asia. Its mosque and tomb, dated to late 14th - early 15th centuries, used to crown it. Cylindrical minaret tower of mosque, domed tomb tower on a cubical base and squinch in the transition zone of mosque are evidences for Central Asian roots. Usage of local lime stone, re-usage of andesite blocks, framing of the stone blocks with bricks, and pendentive in tomb refer to Roman-Byzantine constructions. The study presents the development of Turkish art and construction on the far west Asian coast in the 14th‒15th centuries. Findings will be a guide for related conservation management in similar contexts.
Sustainability, beauty, and power are notions that hit our contemporary perception every day. However, they have been an integral part of architecture and urban planning in various forms since the ages. The paper presents their fundamental descriptions, followed by an assessment of their mutual relations and impact on architecture through a triangular architectural relation model developed by the authors of the article. Using the theoretical thought experiment, it highlights eight boundary models along with their main characteristics, in particular, the implosion, explosion, shared-control, utilitarian, no-control, supremacy, inside-forced, and outside-forced architectural related models. Such models can help predict future events, explain past events, make decisions, and plan strategies, or reveal problems and propose new solutions. Other applications include determination of the causes of certain results or finding out the responsibility and mechanisms that led to them. The authors are of the opinion that the mutual denominator of sustainability, beauty, and power represents ethics that should be forced in architectural education and practice.